Chapter Text
The ship was amazing, unlike the Nemesis or the Emissary of Peace Final Light’s ship had style. Bumblebee couldn’t help but explore after Final Light finished setting him up in a spare room, and boy was there plenty to look at. Every room was filled with treasures and relics from past journeys each probably held some sort of amazing story. Did Knock Out have a ship like this, did he have amazing adventures with fantastic stories to tell?
Bee pushed open the door to the washrack and found it already in use. Even with steam flooding the small space it was easy making out Final Light and Starcharger through the fog. Bee went unnoticed and watched somewhat enthralled as Final Light stripped Starcharger of his ruined paint job. The moment felt so intimate easily made so by Starchargers obvious attempts at flirting. “Honestly you let them ruin you! You used to be the very pride of the court and now...you could have easily made your own replacements.” As before with Aurora Bumblebee couldn’t hear Final Light’s responses. Whatever he said it made Starcharger happy..a little too happy. Bee had learned better so he quietly made his exit.
Entirely exhausted from his exploring Bumblebee headed back to his room, this strange new world was interesting but he really could do with a moment alone to collect his thoughts. What could be happening in his own reality right now, hopefully nothing bad. Knock Out had come back alone…would the other Autobots freak out and accuse the ex-Con of something he hadn’t done. It was highly likely, Magnus was still not fond of Knock Out...none of the team was…. well except Smokescreen but that was just because of the greenhorn's over confidence.
Even Ratchet still called daily to make sure nothing had gone wrong and the old medic had accidentally confided in Bee that he too didn’t trust the other medic but had only left the Bots in Knock Out’s care because it was easier than having to face a Cybertron without Optimus there to enjoy it with. He said he knew that if he hadn’t chosen to stay on earth Optimus would have and now that the Prime was gone he couldn’t stand the idea of reliving all of his old memories alone. Ratchet had faith that Knock Out wouldn’t cause the Autobots any trouble, he just didn’t trust the Con’s commitment to the team. Knock Out was a runner, and despite his lack of…. “decepticonyness” compared to the other Cons the young medic had earned his fair share of enemies from the war. This worried Bee the most, if Magnus lost his cool would Knock Out even be there when Bee got back?
There was a soft knock at the door. “Bumblebee are you still awake?” That voice sent shivers up Bee’s spine, Final Light sounded exactly like Knock Out but he was so…..deadpan….so quiet...so distant. There were only a few times Bee had ever heard his own KO sound so….cold and Bee didn’t care to remember them. Still what did Final Light want at this late hour.
“Yeah, why what’s up?” Bee opened the door. Final Light stepped in, his movements quick yet perfectly paced and elegant. His chassis shimmered even in the low light and he smelled of expensive wax and oil just like Knock Out. For a mech who had suffered so much that Aurora called him broken Final Light made no mistake to even hint that he was somehow suffering from his scars.
“You need an upgrade on your blasters. I can’t in good faith send you into battle with what you have now. Fret not, while Aurora and the other members of the resistance have an issue with giving out advanced tech to tear walkers, I have no such qualms.” Bee was never the mech to turn down free upgrades even if he didn’t bother actively seeking them out.
“Cool, do what you need to do.” Final Light pulled a chair from it’s place beside the writing desk and moved it close to the bed.
“Such an easy patient, most tear walkers are paranoid and war torn but you seem downright cheerful Bumblebee. It is a nice change.” Final Light had a point, in a strange world, with a strange mech, maybe he should be suspicious but Bee honestly couldn’t take the rogue seriously with his barebones prosthetics and candy coated paint job there was just nothing menacing about him. Had there been a slight purr to the other mechs voice? Knock Out had flirted with Bee often when they had been enemies, but now he only used that tone of voice when he was making threats so it was strange to hear it with positive words.
“I can put up a fuss if you like.” Final Light’s laugh engulfed Bee’s processor like the deep bass of one of Mikos metal songs. Dark and spark stopping yet...inviting and familiar but almost fake like it had been practiced till perfection. Just like Knock Out’s. Bee had despised the Con’s laugh at first because it was so frightening, it had always stirred his spark, made his energon run cold but now hearing it...it just resonated deep and soothing.
“That will not be necessary, just switch to your gun for me and allow me to do what I do best.” Final Light had pulled a few things from his subspace and a set down a few tools. Bee felt his systems stutter for a moment...he wasn’t scared...but he had never gotten the chance to need Knock Out’s treatment so this strangely would be a first for the young warrior. This would be the first time ever he would be receiving treatment from the medic and for some reason it felt wrong. He should be sharing this moment with his Knock Out not some strange other world version of him. Primus could he be acting any sillier. Bee switched to his stingers and placed his servo onto Final Light’s.
“So...not to sound ungrateful but is this going to take long I wasn’t exactly powering down but I don’t really want to be sitting here for hours either?”
“I will be quick.”
“Ok, so umm...about those questions I was wondering how are you and Aurora related she said you were from the same caste?”
Final Light was silent for a moment, Bee wondered if that was just his polite way of refusing to answer the question. Bee was mistaken however as the young doctor was just focused more on the task at hand. “ Yes we are, we have the luxury of being well born sparks; a rare occurrence even as early on as our war was. According to records our caste had long since been annihilated, recalled by the senate but for reasons only Primus knows we were still formed. The senate did not take this warning to spark however and simply put us to work as designers at the forge instead of whatever we had actually been forged to do. We both designed newer and newer models for cold-constructed mechs. I am sorry to say I never noticed her before or even during the war despite the fact that we worked the same job. She however noticed me and had a love for my designs. While not knowing her personally it turned out that in turn I was a huge fan of her work. I think because it was so different from my own, I built the bulkier mechs those for fighting and construction. She said she loved the way I could make such powerful mechs also look so tender. She worked on the more fragile mechs, such thin and wispy creatures with long digitips built for weaving metallic fibers into techtextiles or crafting the smallest components for weapons or computers. They were elegant and beautiful but as every pair of optics lit up you could see inside them something wild and hungry. It would only take them one swift motion to pierce through to a spark with those servos or perhaps to pluck out a mech’s fuel line like it was an errant wire in a bundle. I wish I had picked up Aurora’s idiosyncrasy, she would always keep an empty model of every new version she made, looking at her body of work all at once is simply breathtaking. We were after all at the spark of it artists but some considered us gods, with each new model we made an older model would either be replanted or recalled depending on how out-dated they were. I can’t say I blamed them for thinking that about us...it made me sick to create something new knowing full well I was damning another to death.”
Bee didn’t know what to think, that sounded right up Knock Out’s alley. The Con had quite the artistic talent and was a decent engineer as well as a medic. “That sound’s like a really interesting job but why would you need to be a car for that and Aurora what does she even turn into she’s so thin she can’t have much to her even with how tall she is.”
“I don’t know I have always had wheels but I changed myself during the war. However before the rebellion the senate removed my transformation cog, Aurora received a similar treatment and so her and I have never seen our forged alt-modes. The t-cog I obtained during the war is no longer mine and Aurora never bothered, she was never curious enough.”
“You can’t transform either, how are you still functioning!” Final Light picked up Bee’s other servo. Aurora had not been kidding about the medic’s skill.
“It’s hard to miss something you barely had or used, my alt-mode was one of necessity for getting across battlefields I never derived much enjoyment from it.”
“That’s crazy it’s so freeing….but I can’t speak for everyone.” Knock Out always acted so proud of his alt-mode but was that just for show...to fit an image the Doctor wanted to portray. This was starting to mess with Bee’s processor, just because Final Light and Knock Out were similar didn’t mean they were the same mech entirely.
“I am sure to most mechs it is freeing...to have another version of themselves that they can become should one existence become too troublesome.” Bumblebee had never thought of it that way but in a way Final Light was pretty on point, Bee did always end up driving off whenever things got too difficult or tiring to deal with. It was comforting and natural and looking back on it when he had been missing his own t-cog it had been the thing he had missed the most. He had needed the use of his guns and his wheels to chase down and dispatch the enemy but it had been the loss of that strange comfort that had upset him the most.
Was Knock Out like this... deep and philosophical, was there more to the cherry medic than just his perfect paint job and his sweet talk. Bee knew there was, there had to be but was he really anything like Final Light at all. The medic was done, he stood to leave.
“You are all set, it will take three cycles to get to our destination so don’t be tempted to hide in your room the entire trip. Miko generally sounds the call when I give out rations but since you are not on our schedule feel free to ask anytime you’re feeling low. Are there any other burning questions you have for me?” Bumblebee had plenty but exhaustion was pulling at him, his processor already full to the brim with new experiences and knowledge, it was time for a nice recharge.”
“Nope I think I’m good for tonight.” Final Light nodded but he seemed hesitant to leave. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”
“You said you were tired I can ask later….,” Bee rested his elbows on his knees and held his helm in his servos while he fluttered his optics inquisitively as if to say ‘Go on’. “It is a rather stupid question but...in your world am I….is he….was it worth it? Is he free....does he enjoy his existence?” What a sad question, Bee didn’t quite know how to respond. Knock Out seemed happy, whenever he wasn’t skulking in his room. Was he free though, he was usually under Ultra Magnus’ constant surveillance so Bee had to say no. Was he better off than he was with the Decepticons well, Bee wanted to think so. “Forgive me, I told you it was a stupid question. You already said that despite your interest the two of you were not that close, asking you to quantify his happiness is...silly.” Final Light didn’t give Bee a chance to respond, he left without a final word. Bee thought about going after the mech but decided against it, he really did want to just lie down and recharge.
Bee had never liked space travel much, it was always so empty and structureless. There were no schedules or times or even duties it was just sit and wait till the ship got to wherever it needed to go. On one servo it was relaxing to have a nice break from the taxing life he was used to but on the other it was also maddening for a mech like Bee who so rarely often sat still for more than a few hours at best. So after a few good hours of recharge Bee began to wander again. The ship was massive for a personal cruiser and with every room like a museum there was no lack of things to occupy him. Eventually Bee stumbled upon a rather large library and was lost for hours, it took his persistent warning systems to drag him from the place to search for Final Light to get some fuel but Bee made a mental note of where the room had been.
The others were sitting in a large common room playing another card game except for Final Light the mech he actually needed. “Hey guys where’s Final Light I don’t want to bother him but I’m running on empty.”
Miko looked up from her hand, “Wow Bumblebee, so needy how dare you.” Rumble scoffed at the girl’s sarchasm.
“You don’t need the Boss to get you fuel like a damn new build it’s in the cabinet over there. Take what you need but don’t be greedy that’s the Boss private stash.”
“Are we supposed to be taking energon from his private stash?” Rumble gave Bumblebee a deadpan glare.
“Do you really think I would tell you to take it if we weren’t supposed to, what part about working for free don’t you understand?”
“I got it. I just can’t believe they didn’t even bother to give you guys rations you are soldiers after all.”
“That’s where you are wrong tear walker we are not soldiers we are rogues; pay for play; and everything is currency when you’re as strapped for resources as the resistance is.”
Bumblebee made a noncommittal noise, this place was starting to suck more and more. Even though the resistance was doing the right thing being apart of it sounded like a chore. Just throwing one’s life away cycle after cycle for nothing but a beating and a bad meal. Sure the Autobot cause hadn’t gone any better but at least Optimus made it sound important so mechs wanted to help. Still they had been at this for a long time, maybe there just wasn’t any room for that sort of thing left. You either wanted to help or you didn’t, at least you knew what you were getting into. Bumblebee sipped his energon cube, was Final Light having second thoughts. He had already sacrificed himself enough for the resistance and having ties with the empire...rather personal ties….it must not be easy to forget how good of a life it had been even at the expense of others. Bee made his way back to the library full and ready to waste another who knew how long by himself.
“Wowee mister have you not moved from this spot this entire time?” Miko pulled Bee from his lull, he had been listening to an audio book. ‘The Primal Destiny’ an autobiography of Optimus’ rise to power read by Optimus himself. “Interested in learning about the enemy are we, you don’t have to worry about that, Optimus is kind of like Megatron nowadays just a sad tired old mech in charge of leading the people. Elita is the real problem. Don’t worry you won’t have to deal with either one of them this is going to be a stealth mission if we can help it.” Bee hadn’t exactly been listening to the book for it’s story.
“Can’t really say that I care much about that Miko, I just….it’s been awhile since I’ve heard Optimus’ voice. I know it’s weird for you but...it was nice hearing it again even if it’s not perfect it’s something.” Bee turned off the player as Miko pulled up a chair.
“Was OP a cool dude in your reality?” Bee nodded.
“He was my mentor but he was everyone’s mentor too, he wanted to make sure everyone was safe and even after the worst he was still the same mech. He never gave up and he took every failure really hard even though there was no one to blame. He made doing the right thing easy or at least I always thought it was easy, even through the rough times. I don’t know how mechs like Aurora do it when she’s always getting beat down.”
“Dude Aurora is like a saint but she also hates the empire like nobody else. Which is so weird because her and the Boss are just... they don’t seem connected to really anyone or anything. You might think that’s weird because of the Boss has us and then his thing with Magnus but he never talks about it or seems like he misses Magnus at all and as for us like he’s our boss and we know he cares about us but he’s just not there most of the time. Aurora has the crew and spends all of her time making sure they are well and safe and happy but at the end of the cycle they are just...her job...even if she tries not to act like it. It’s like they don’t know what else to do with their lives so they might as well do this. They never talk about themselves, or what they want, or what they miss, or what they need and neither one of them get’s caught up in the past or the future. They treat every cycle like it’s the only one that matters and then it might as well have never happened. It’s like they’re ungrounded...like they’re missing a part of them. The Boss more than Aurora, at least that’s what Starcharger is always saying. I couldn’t tell you what the Boss was like before he joined the resistance. Just that he was smoking hot and every mech in the court wanted to like...obliterate Magnus for taking him off the market at such a young age. You know fun gossipy stuff. Aurora has always been caring and sweet but the only thing she ever gets really passionate about is Cybertron and well...tear walkers but pretty much same deal with before the war though no clues whatsoever. It’s kind of a bummer since I’ve known these guys for so long but hey it’s tough for them too I guess.”
“Kind of lost you there, but I understand where they might be coming from. I loved my time on Earth and all the memories and connections I made there but I still really wanted to go home to Cybertron but now that I’m back on Cybertron I realize it doesn’t feel like a “home”. Sure it’s nice to be back but I lived my entire life fighting so to me Cybertron is just a familiar battleground but for my friends it’s a place where they feel they belong. So for Aurora the last place she felt right was Cybertron but for Final Light maybe he’s never felt right anywhere.”
“Whoah man getting real deep on me now.”
“Well what about you, you didn’t feel like staying on your new planet so you stayed where you felt right.” Miko nodded in agreement.
“Guess you have a point,” Miko paused for a moment, “I am totally done with the introspective scrap though we should go hang out with the others, or are you really that interested in listening to that audiobook and moping about your losses.”
Miko really was the same no matter the reality, it was nice to have her brash nature to bring him up. “Not that you guys aren’t fun but I don’t think Rumble really wants me around and I don’t want to deal with him to be honest.”
Miko laughed, “Yeah he’s being a baby. It’s just that he’s had some run-ins with Trackerjacket and while personally I don’t think you two look anything alike...I guess it’s enough to weird him out. Maybe it’s your voice...that’s sort of a big thing for spies.”
“So he was a spy too, what made him leave Soundwave?”
“Simple debt story….Final Light saved his aft from getting snuffed by the Guard.”
“So Rumble is just that devoted to whoever he’s working for?”
“Haha, no. He’s got a pretty bad crush on the Boss but his affections are always getting trumped by Starcharger’s blatetent wooing. It’s not looking good for either of them though, I don’t think the Boss can move on from Magnus. He just gives Starcharger more attention because Starcharger is a brat. They were also pretty close when the Boss was in the Guard. Starcharger was Ultra Magnus’ ward so that made the Boss like Starcharger’s weird mom, but not like a real mom more like those step-moms that are always super nice to the weird adopted kid, that kind of mom.”
“Got it...I think.”
“You really shouldn’t let it get to you though, he’ll get over it. He’s just in an extra bad mood because Starcharger’s been rubbing shit in his face since the Boss helped fix up SC’s paint job. They are like children fighting over the Boss’ affection it’s so weird sometimes. They used to be able to deal with each other a lot better when the Boss had an actual faceplate because he would dole out forehead smooches like nobodies business, but now it’s like a competition between them. I kind of miss those days too it was nice seeing the Boss smile even if it was kind of phony.”
“I don’t want to sound mean because he was pretty good looking before whatever happened to him but seriously how can they be fighting over him now! I can sort of see Rumble but despite whatever sort of past they have if Starcharger is anything like Rodimus there would be just no way..no way!”
“I KNOW RIGHT!”, Miko leaned onto the table, fully engrossed with the conversation once again, “So like Rumble had a huge thing for Soundwave at one point but it was super weird for him because Soundwave is just legendary and they had that weird master and ward thing going on right. Then Rumble got caught but Soundwave didn’t save him, he refused because he was so confident that Rumble could save himself.”
“Oh no….”
“Yeah so after like three cycles Frenzy was losing it so he begged me to convince the Boss to help so I did. Rumble was in pretty bad condition so he spent a pretty long time with the Boss because the he was still the CMO at this point. So Rumble sort of got that weird hurt/comfort kind of crush but that was just how it started it’s pretty serious for him now even though he doesn't like to admit it. Anyway backtracking…so Rumble got better but it was super awkward between Soundwave and Rumble after that because Soundwave felt terrible and he just wanted to give Rumble some space and time to get better because Soundwave is such a hippy dippy like Aurora and the Guard had f**ked Rumble straight up. Soundwave was totally in the right because Rumble was still messed up mentally and stuff. So he wouldn’t let him go on missions and stuff and was super curt and distant because he thought Rumble was pissed at him or that being forced to hear about work would just mess him up more.”
“I know how this goes.”
“Exactly, Rumble just felt so betrayed and felt like such a loser because he thought Soundwave didn’t think he was competent enough or that he saw Rumble as a disgrace or whatever. So things got horrible between them and eventually Rumble gave up and just went to the Boss and begged Final Light if he could help around the med bay and go on missions with him and the Boss was like sure do what you want and Rumble got super close. Soundwave and Rumble cleared things up ages ago but Rumble just realised he liked our line of work better.”
“See now you’re making me feel bad for thinking he was just a dipstick.”
“Oh no don’t worry he totally is but he’s our dipstick, our poor sexually frustrated dipstick. So when Starcharger first came into the picture and was starting to get all ‘mmmmm Boss mmmm’ you know, I was like h**l no Rumble has worked too hard. It’s already tough enough to get mechs to take minibots seriously and Starcharger was just some douche from the Guard so it was easy to hate him. But like then after getting to know Starcharger it’s really f**king easy to see that he has some serious daddy issues of his own and that he sort of relies on Final Light emotionally. I can’t really define what it is for him, but I can tell you half of the reason is because the Boss willingly strokes Starcharger’s ego. Like to the creepy point sometimes and Starcharger just….unhhh he just needs it to function sometimes. It’s wonderful and so amusing to me.”
“I’m really not surprised.” Bee didn’t bother to pause the girl to define whatever “daddy issues” were. He just made his best guess with the given context clues.
“So yeah now I can’t really pick a side and the Boss doesn’t help because he does whatever he needs to to get Starcharger to do what he wants and SC knows this and is perfectly fine with the situation but he’s a brat so he likes to shove it in Rumbles face. Whereas Rumble can’t help having feelings for the Boss and he wants to just say something but he knows the Boss is just such….he’s just such a whatever mech it’s infuriating sometimes because Rumble can’t just handle being some mechs ‘whatever’ you get what I’m putting down Bumblebee.”
“Sort of, I don’t really understand how ‘whatever’ is acting as a descriptor though.”
“Don’t get all proper english on me here Bumblebee I never finished High School thanks to these butts and got my higher learning using a gun and making artillery.” She paused for a moment and tried to round up some examples, “It’s just he’s so, Oh my arm was just blown off in battle...whatever time to keep fighting, Oh my ex-lover is trying to kill me...whatever have to get out of this little situation, Oh my friend just died...whatever death is constant I still have things that need to get done, Oh I’ve got two hot mechs who I know want to siphon me off every time they look at my crotch and I care about them enough and I’ve made enough of my own moves on them to know I would probably enjoy that situation but I’m me so….whatever I’m sure they’ll move on. Do you need me to continue ‘cause I’ve got more?”
Bee was just stifling his laughter, he made a mental note for when he got back to ask Wheeljack to get cracking on tech for the humans, a normal human lifespan wasn’t enough for Miko and it would be a travesty to not have a version of immortal Miko in his own timeline. “I’m good I get where you’re coming from now, Knock Out can be a bit like that himself especially about the dead, that’s just like a defense mechanism for him though. There’s also been a few times when he’s passed out from ignoring his fuel warnings because he continuously overrides them to trick his body into thinking it’s ok. It’s such a weird habit for such a self-centered mech like him.”
“OH MY GOD RUMBLE DOES THAT AND IT’S CRAZY TERRIFYING! Even worse he JUST did that to me today. He was glaring at you the entire time you were fueling up so after you left I was like Rumble are you low and he just scoffs at me for treating him like the sparkling that he is and then not ten minutes later he just goes dark on me. I don’t know what his deal is!”
“I’ve learned to tell with Knock Out because he’ll just start doing the same thing over and over again like if he’s typing he’ll write the same word over and over again. Seriously though I want you to guess how low you think he’s gotten before he just can’t function anymore just please guess for me.”
“I don’t know Rumble is tiny and he can get down to like ten before he just does something like stands up and just... that’s it. So I’m guessing twenty because he’s like the Boss’s other world self or whatever.”
“Five percent and at eight he’s still mostly functional and he can fully function at ten as long as it stays there. I turn into a grump as soon as I hit fourty. What do you have to live through where that just becomes the norm for a mech I swear! It makes no sense for a mech like Knock Out and what’s weird is that according to the Vehicons he would do it all the time when he was working on the Nemesis. That was the Con ship, and the CONS had ALL the energon ALL OF IT, AND HE WON’T TALK ABOUT IT! HOW DO YOU JUST FORGET TO FUEL UP? It’s SO AGGRAVATING! Our nicer medic Ratchet…..he threw a fit if we went under thirty...I just...the Decepticons are so messed up.”
“That sounds like Wrecker training like, they’re trained to function at a “solid” fifteen percent and that’s it they can’t go over. Then when they get back from their missions Impactor just buys them all high-grade and they get trashed. I don’t know how they live like that.”
“That’s the exact opposite of how our Wreckers work because all they drink is high-grade because it lasts you longer. So they drink a revolting amount of high-grade and then head off to fight. As the war got worse they couldn’t do it any more but..uhnn so many stories….so many bad choices...Wheeljack could write a bestseller.”
“Man...what a lifestyle.”
“Yeah I guess.”
“WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAUTY WE’RE HERE!” Bumblebee was awoken by the sultry sound of Miko’s screaming. “Look out your windows and see that beautiful overindulgence and over compensation of the Cybertronian empire!”
Bumblebee pulled himself from the rather plush padded berth, one more thing he needed to add to the list of things he was going to ask for as soon as he got back to his reality. Miko hadn’t been kidding looking out onto the strange landscape of Gravis 6 Bee felt a strange sting in his spark. It wasn’t all that unfamiliar, the shimmering city decked out in colorful buntings and floating lights looked just like Cybertron always did in old history books. “It looks amazing.”
“Yeah you f**kers are all the same, you see a shiny metal city and you wet yourselves. You wanna know what’s really great about being on this headache inducing kaleidoscope planet?”
“Sure what?”
“Well Bumblebee I will tell you that it’s because I GET TO WEAR MY DELIGHTFUL SUNGLASSES! Try and tell me I do not look like I just came straight out of an 80’s action movie with my robot arm and my weird space leather pants and my sleek space jacket and my bitchin glasses! Throw in my space blaster and I am ready to make cheesy puns and use way too much ammo on enemies who are right in front of me. TELL ME BUMBLEBEE, are you ready to save some nerds and get yourself back home!”
“Yeah!”
“That was pitiful, ARE YOU READY TO BEAT UP RICH SUCKERS AND LOOT THE BEST STARSHIP IN THE ROYAL FLEET!”
“Yea-no!”
“Right, right you’re a little goody two shoes aren’t you. ARE YOU READY TO SAVE AN ENTIRE RACE OF BEINGS FROM MAKING PROBABLY THE WORST DECISION OF THEIR LIVES!”
“Let’s do it!”
“You are really lacking the energy Bee, but I guess if that’s the best you can do.”
“It’s because I need a pair of super cool sunglasses like you to really feel the hype.”
Miko couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “Do you haaaaave to leave like are you sure you don’t want to stay and be a mercenary like us because I know that word usually puts people off but we’re cool mercenaries.”
“I really do I’m honestly worried they have Knock Out on lockdown and Magnus is just losing it because poor Knock Out has zero answers.”
“Oh wow yeah we have to get you home especially if your boyfriend is in danger. Let’s go.” Miko pulled him along through the halls. In the small meeting room everyone was all suited up. It was always strange for Bee, who had been a soldier since he could remember to see mechs with guns that weren’t built into their bodies, but all of Final Lights team had servo held guns and quite a variety of them to boot.
“How are we not going to get caught, you guys look like you’re here to kill mechs.”
“It’s space tear walker, you’re the one who looks weird why does your whole servo turn into a gun. How many times have you accidentally shot yourself in the face?”
“Oh that’s the weirdest thing to you, Megatron’s got a gun on his arm.”
“Yeah attached to it, that’s totally different than having your servo turn into a gun.”
“It’s not weird, it’s practical!”
“Yeah, all right.” as Final Light stepped in Rumble visibly tensed, “This is it you slaggers it’s time to go over the plan. So we’re going to make our way to the ceremony at the center of the city, the Boss and Lord Megatron are going to make a scene while we slip onto the Soliton and locate our crewmates. Once they are located Starcharger will open a tear and get them out and onto the Galaxy Breaker when they are all safe Starcharger will comm me and I will sound the call. If you are not back on the ship by the time I get onto the ship you are out of luck because I will be leaving, that includes you tear walker I won’t risk my life waiting around because you wanted to be included. So for that not to be a problem at all, you are going to be with Starcharger and you are going to go through the tear with the construction crew. Any questions?”
“Uhh yeah pretty big one, if you can open tears then why are we here aside from the fact that your friends need saving?”
“Yeah that might seem confusing, I can do tears but not as well as Soundwave who can just go wherever he want’s I can only open them within a certain radius and I certainly can’t do it across like dimensions. I’m just a living ground bridge and like... not even a cool one, I also can’t go through my own tears so…. that’s also a problem.”
“Enough said I was just curious.”
“Alright with that out of the way, any more questions…..no, good!” The group filed out, as Final Light passed Bee he tapped the younger mech’s shoulder.
“Face mask Bumblebee, we wouldn’t want Trackerjacket to catch a glance at you.”
Out into the bright light of Gravis 6 Bee was the only one who seemed impressed, the others were somber, even Miko glared at the glittering city with disdain. The deeper into the city they got the more and more opulent the streets were. What he had thought were lights were actually huge floating gems refracting the light every which way and plastered on building after building were extravagant banners bearing the symbol of the royal court. It was unsettling to see the Autobot brand everywhere but also strangely uplifting, despite the way they had gone about it these Cybertronians had lived on and persevered, it sort of made Bee hopeful for his own reality.
The center of the city was a large bay and the royal court had spared no expense in their attempt to show off to the mechs of Gravis 6. Streets lined with faux pillars and high arches decorated with scenes from both Cybertronian and Gravisite history. Crystal statues and bridges were artistically breathtaking. Colorful tents and stalls were all selling all sorts of strange treats and favors. Everywhere Bee turned it was a show, it was so garish and lively that Bee couldn’t help but love it. Final Light caught on to him eventually, it wasn’t hard with the young mech lagging behind every second to get a better look at a stall or an arch. Bee hadn’t even noticed how far behind he had gotten. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed Bumblebee but yellow is a fairly popular color here, are you trying to get left behind?” Bee felt a hot wash of embarrassment rush over his faceplate, he was acting like a sparkling.
“I’m sorry, I-”
“You have never experienced a festival like this young one?” Bee shook his helm. “Would you like anything?”
“What?”
“There is no harm in enjoying the frivolity of life sometimes and though my team keeps up a cold front there have been plenty of times where we have indulged ourselves by participating in the Courts festivities before completing our mission. Miko likes to call us party crashers.”
“I couldn’t do that..it would feel wrong they’re the enemy.” Final Light laughed, dark and chilling in the warm bright weather.
“Enjoy yourself, this experience is usually once in a lifetime and only for a very select few.” Final Light pulled a small purse from his subspace and handed it over to Bee. “The wedding is set to start in two hours we are just going to meet up with Megatron and locate the Soliton, there is no reason you can’t have some fun and relieve me of some of my ill-gotten gains. Just make sure to stay safe alright.”
It didn’t take much more to convince Bumblebee and the young mech quickly found himself backtracking to a stall that had caught his attention. It didn’t take him long to get there, the lanky vendor smiled at him as he stepped into the tent. The shop was full of tiny figures and toys beautifully handcrafted and amazingly intricate. There were many figures of strange mechs and there was even some done of mechs he found familiar but what had really caught his eye were the amazing fauna figurines, somehow they moved on there own, with such bright and colorful palettes and so many moving parts they might as well have been alive. Bee wanted to buy all of them but settled on a spiny looking feline creature with a wings, a spiky back and a long feathery tail. The vendor eagerly talked Bumblebee’s audial off as he showed Bee how the toy worked teaching Bee how to load the tiniest energon spheres into the creature's chest giving it a tiny false spark of its own.
Bee was lost in the excitement of it all as he ran through the streets enjoying the views and the crowds of mechs enjoying their lives. It was nothing he had ever had the chance to experience before in his life and he wanted to relish every second of it. Something fragrant and delicious caught his attention and with low tanks Bee found himself lured into the stall. The bright blue femm working the stall loaded him up with free samples and sweet words till Bee left the stall with three bags of colorful treats and no idea what half of them were. As he made his way through the streets he suddenly felt a heavy servo on his shoulder. A strange shiver ran through him. “Enjoying the festival young one.” Bee tried to calm his spark as he turned to meet Megatron.
“I’m sorry Final Light said it was ok.” Bee looked like a sparking caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to but he couldn’t help notice that Megatron was holding his own bag a somber smile on his face.
“I have no problem with it, would you like to sit with me and enjoy the festive atmosphere?” Even in this reality the Gladiator’s voice was still just as raw and terrifying his demeanor sinister despite his tired optics but Bee found himself nodding and following the Con off to a quiet spot to sit. Comfortably seated by the water the two ate their snacks. “It’s times like these that cause me to miss my old life despite knowing I have chosen the correct path. One has to admit to themselves Lady Elita knows how to throw a festival.”
“This is my first time going to something like this, it’s….kind of a shame we are going to have to mess it up.”
“It is, but this union will doom the Gravisites as it has doomed others, this is not the first time Lady Elita has done this. Her daughters are in charge of many of this galaxy's most influential territories thanks to their arranged unions. I am afraid nothing we do here however will actually stop this wedding, the Gravisites were the ones who originally brought up the idea they wanted to be part of the empire. They are smarter than they let on which will lead to their downfall in the end.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The empire is strong and can be very helpful and even kind but at the root of it they are selfish and while this union may appear to be a winning endeavor at the start the mechs of Gravis 6 will soon find themselves overwhelmed by the empire’s desires.” Bumblebee didn’t quite understand but the hidden dangers of imperialism were not unknown to him. “It is time we get into place, let’s go.”
Bumblebee found Starcharger just outside a large pavilion, he was watching mechs cross the large bridge to the small island out beyond the bay a bit where the actual ceremony was going to take place. He had a grousing look on his face clearly unhappy as he watched the dapper mechs and femm make their way across the bridge.
“Something wrong? Don’t think your paintjob is up to snuff enough for these guys?”
This got a laugh out of the jet, “Honestly just wish I could see what’s so damn amazing that all of these slaggers are practically wetting themselves over it.”
“I mean I know it must be old news to mechs like you but I think it’s pretty cool. It’s just probably really out of the norm for mechs like them, plus who doesn't like a celebration? I know we shouldn’t have too much fun here but that doesn’t mean we can’t sort of celebrate ourselves, we’re going to break your friends out of the evil royal court’s clutches you can celebrate that.”
“Is it all colorful and gaudy with servo made aluminum flowers all over the place? Starcharger hadn’t intended Bumblebee to hear that but the Autobot felt embarrassment flood his senses regardless. Starcharger was blind.
“Yeah….it’s how I imagine a festival would go in my own reality. Honestly though the smell of it all is the best part, I love the smell of the sea. The mercury and the copper in the water makes it pink and glittery.”
Starcharger hummed in agreement, “It does smell nice here and there’s a ton of wild animals to mess around with. I was petting a wild turbofox for an hour.”
“Are all tear walkers blind or just you?”
“I think it’s a common trait, Soundwave is, Frenzy is, Trackerjacket is. The processor just can’t handle it or whatever...shorts out something in there, replaces one sense with another. The difference between me and them though is they were prepared for it. They knew what they could be sacrificing to gain a power that they wanted. It was hard for me, it’s not all fun and games in the beginning it’s like being stuck in your own personal pit. It made me weak in the optics of the court, made Ultra Magnus ashamed of me, made my life unbearable. I was going to be Prime and after my accident...they didn’t even want me around. I didn’t save Final Light after Magnus lost it... he saved me. Saw me in the solvent shower doped up trying to blow my own fuse.”
Bumblebee couldn’t find the right words to say so he went for the default. “I’m sorry Starcharger.”
Starcharger scrunched his face trying to hold back his feelings, “It’s whatever, not your problem.”
“I know you like Final Light better but why didn’t you go work with Soundwave, didn’t he help you use your powers?”
“Nope, Aurora did. She’s been blind her whole life and she has had to do way more intricate scrap living with her disability. She taught me how to live my life they way I wanted to...Soundwave might be a legendary hero but spy life just isn’t for me and like you said I wanted to be with Final Light.”
“Aurora is blind too but she’s the CMO?”
“I know right! She’s awesome and the resistance treats her like slag even though I am pretty sure she could do some serious damage. Girls got some powers of her own she’s just better at keeping them secret.”
Suddenly music began to swell over the area the ceremony had started without them noticing. “Shouldn’t we be on the island, the weddings already started, how are we going to know when to go?”
“We’re right where we need to be, don’t worry you’ll know when to move.”
Over the swell of music a rough booming voice called out over the area, the fact that a mech like Megatron could be heard from this far away was a testament to his skill as an orator.
“CITIZENS OF GRAVIS 6 I COME TO YOU WITH A MESSAGE OF WARNING. YOU LOOK UPON THIS LOVELY CELEBRATION WITH HOPEFUL OPTICS BUT YOU ARE BLIND TO THE FUTURE OF THE DESTRUCTION THAT IT WILL HERALD UNTO YOU. HEED MY WORDS AND FORGIVE ME FOR MY ACTIONS WE DO WHAT WE MUST TO PROTECT ALL FROM CYBERTRONIAN TYRANNY!” Laser fire already filled the sky and screams of civilians filled the air.
“That’s our cue.” The two ran through the streets and Bee only just witnessed the rush of mechs fleeing trying to make their way back over the bridge. Soon the streets became cluttered the panic starting to set in on the mainland those who had not seen what had happened on the island getting caught up in the confusion and fear. Starcharger had no trouble navigating through the chaos and eventually a massive ship came into view. Starcharger paused to comm Rumble, “What’s the status? Ok we’ll be there.”
Starcharger grabbed Bee’s servo and tugged him along, the gesture was irritating while outside the ship but as they pried open the entrance bay doors and started deeper in Bee was glad to keep close to the jet. Despite being much fancier and much larger than any ship Bee had ever seen it was still just as daunting with nothing but hall after hall of monotonous looking hallways and layouts; starships were a scouts worse nightmare.
“It’s ok, I know this place like the back of my servo I lived on this ship remember.” Bumblebee’s EM field must have given him away but he couldn’t help feeling lost and confused as he was dragged along at a lightning pace.
“Miko said this was supposed to be a stealth mission why did Megatron make such a scene?”
“It is a stealth mission...for us. It’s easy to be stealthy when all of the heavy hitters are out shooting down the most dangerous mechs the resistance has to offer?”
“Mechs? Is Final Light there too?”
“You bet he is, who else is going to give the Guard a run for their credits!”
Bee spotted Rumble fidgeting outside of a door Starcharger ran up to him. “What are you doing I thought you said they were in the holding cells!”
“They are so go get them!”
“What are you doing then?”
“Look inside.” Starcharger peaked through the holofield window.
“So what it’s the secondary med bay?”
“Last bed back corner.” The jet looked again.
“No way, but they said they had the body!”
“Well either it was a trap set up by the empire or the higher ups doing some shady scrap either way we need to get him out of there.”
Bee felt at a loss, “Who’s in there?”
Starcharger looked at him with a worried expression, “Shockwave.”
“You two continue the mission I’ll call Final Light and Miko and get this slagging door open.”
“Alright let’s go Bumblebee.”
The two continued downward to the holding cells. The mechs they were looking for were easy to find even in this world Scrapper and the other Construction crew members were still bright green and obvious. Mixmaster jumped up as soon as he saw Starcharger’s flashy chassis round the corner.
“We didn’t think they would actually send anyone to get us!” The others got to their peds as well relief and joy in their optics. Something confused Bee though, the Constructicons were rather bulky mechs and the holding cells didn’t look like much. A few flimsy bars were nothing to mechs who could rip apart a mech with their bare servos. As Bee got closer though he could see the faint pink glow of an energy field, hopefully Starcharger had a plan because there would be no blasting their way through that.
“Don’t be so pessimistic Mixmaster you know we’re always looking out for the important mechs of the resistance. Stand back a bit for me alright.” Starcharger squared himself and vented deeply a few times. Suddenly the mech’s optics flashed a brilliant lavender and bright tear began to rip through reality. Starcharger held the tear and slowly made it bigger pulling it wide as he moved his servos, in the shimmering fog Bee could see the interior of the Galaxy Breaker. It was just like Starcharger had said a walking groundbridge. “Alright head through and hide somewhere safe just in case I’ll be sending Bumblebee here through to keep you guys safe as soon as I get all of you to the ship.”
They didn’t need any instruction the Constucticons were most eager to be free from their prison. As Scavanger disappeared from sight Starcharger’s optics dimmed and the tear closed. The jet doubled over and vented heavily, Bee quickly rushed over to offer the mech his support. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine just give me a klick ok then I’ll send you through” Starcharger froze a comm coming through.
“ASSISTANCE REQUIRED-” Rumble was screaming, panic clear in his voice “CONTROL ROOM-” There was a high pitched shriek and the sounds of clashing metal and laser fire. “TRACKERJACKET!”
“We gotta go.” Starcharger pulled himself off Bee and set off down the hallway worry in his optics leaving Bee stumbling to catch up to him.
“What’s up?”
“Rumble needs assistance.” The control room was up top and on the other end of the ship, by the time they got there lights and warnings were blaring all around them. Rumble was curled up on the floor venting wetly a small puddle of energon forming around him. “RUMBLE!” Starcharger rushed forward and scooped the minicon into his arms.
Rumble groaned in pain at the sudden movement his arms tightening around himself. He looked up at Starcharger with a forced grin on his faceplate. “Stupid slagger got me by surprise and sounded the alarm, he’s probably already got the rest of the guard on their way back here. We still need to get Shockwave, we can’t leave him behind not if his sparks still lit. The doors are open all you gotta do it get to him through a tear.”
“You first. Bumblebee Hook’s a medic, take Rumble to him for me and come back I’ll keep the tear open alright?” Bee nodded and took the minicon from Starcharger. As the tear formed Bee ran through the familiar scene of the Galaxy Breaker forming around him. Finding Hook had proven to be a bit of a problem since Starcharger had told them to hide but the Constructicons were not the most illusive mechs thanks to their large size, Bee found them holding up in one of the larger storage rooms trying their best to keep out of sight. Making his way back he could still see the tear and through the fog Starcharger still holding it open, behind the struggling mech guardsmen appeared they stared at Starcharger for a moment and realizing they had caught the mech unaware unleashed a barrage of laser fire right at his back. Bee screamed out hoping the jet would hear him.
“Starcharger look out!” Bumblebee reached through the tear as Starcharger turned on his attackers just in time to roll away but with the jets attention pulled away the tear closed. A white hot searing pain engulfed his arm and Bumblebee reeled back in horror to find his entire forearm and servo gone, his elbow joint ragged and dripping energon. Bee howled in pain as he clamped his good servo over the wound but he didn’t have time to cry about it Starcharger needed backup.
Starcharger couldn’t hear Bee calling through the rift but he could feel a rush of warmth coming at his back, he turned and dodged quickly just in time. Motormaster ceased fire and the rest of his team followed in suite, the truck laughing as he sneered at the rebel. “Well look what we have here, Breakdown, Wildrider hold him!” The other guards rushed forward as instructed and with nowhere to run in the small space. The jet tried to make a break for it as Breakdown tripped over the disembodied arm lying on the ground but was quickly yanked back by Wildrider and slammed against the control panel a few times. Motormaster and the others crowded in taking their own swings at him. Starcharger tried to fight back but Motormaster and his team were too strong.
Dragstrip yanked the jet from the floor and slammed him hard into the wall snickering. Grabbing at Starcharger's thin wrists he pulled them over the smaller mech’s head leaving the jet exposed and defenceless. Dragstrip was never much of a fighter though he liked to exert his power in a different manner. The racer slid one of his knees between Starcharger's thighs and ground it hard against the jets codpiece. With his other servo he grabbed at Starcharger’s face forcing him to look at the other mech. “Long time no see Solar Flare, Primus I’ve missed those pretty optics,” Dragstrip swallowed hard and chuckled darkly, “Among other things.” He slid his servo from Starcharger's face to the seam of the jet’s hip caressing the sensitive spot for a moment before ramming his claws deep tearing sensitive wires as he tried to wrench off Starcharger’s leg. “Like the way you scream.” The jet did scream, he screamed and thrashed as the guard’s claws sunk deeper and pulled harder exposing more precious wires and fuel lines till he finally got what he wanted. Starcharger howled as his leg was torn off, tears streaming down his face as the other guards laughed around him.
Suddenly Breakdown's heavy fist connected with Dragstrip's head and the racer was knocked back. Motormaster turned on the scout and screamed “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!”
“Magnus told us not to do any real damage, besides with Smokescreen dead he’s the next in line for Prime even if he is a defector. We have to tell Magnus we have him.”
Motormaster’s face was sour, “FINE, go get him then!” Breakdown made a swift exit but as soon as the scout was out of audial range the leader turned back to Starcharger. “The asymmetry your frame is just so garish now don’t you agree Dragsrip?” The guard pulled himself to his peds grinning audial to audial as he nodded. “Then by all means rip the other one off.” Starcharger screamed and cried out for someone, anyone, but no one came.
Bumblebee could hear screaming but with all the other noise it was hard to tell where it was coming from. As he raced along the halls he realized that it was only getting louder as he got closer to the control room. “STARCHARGER!”
“BUMBLEBEE!” it was weak and rough but at least the jet was holding on. As the control room came into sight Bee clung to the walls his blaster at the ready, there were way too many heavy hitters in that room for Bee to take on his own but Starcharger needed him. He turned to be square with the entrance and opened fire. For a blissful second the guards were confused it seemed that Bumblebee looked enough like Trackerjacket to cause some doubt but the heavy laser fire cleared up any of that and Motormaster fired back. With all of his focus on Motormaster Bee didn’t expect to have his legs pulled out from under him. As soon as he hit the ground he was dragged into the room and Wildrider slammed him into a wall mesmerized by his blasters the mech wrapped one servo around Bee’s throat and used the other to examine his stinger.
Motormaster laughed, deep and throaty as he sheathed his weapon. “Looks like we got another plaything and this one looks like fun.”
Suddenly A black haze enveloped the guards and with a snap the cloud was sparking with electricity. The guards trapped inside screamed soundlessly their mouths agape and their optics shattering from the energy as it coursed through them. Bee felt Wildrider’s grip tighten painfully as his frame convulsed and shook. Fear washed over him as he tried to ignore his old trauma. The haze dissipated and the guards fell to the floor their chassis smoking. No noise came from their vocalizers only the soft pinging of cooling metal...they were all dead. Breakdown stepped through the door and yanked Motormaster's chassis from the room clearing up some space in the tiny room. Bumblebee yanked at the servo around his throat trying to free himself from the dead weight that was now Wildrider, he didn’t know why the guard had betrayed his friends but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out if he could help it. Just as he freed himself Breakdown made his way back into the room but he didn’t seem to want anything to do with Bee.
Starcharger was sobbing and whimpering on the floor both of his legs had been torn off and he was leaking from a few thick holes in his abdomen. “Stormbreaker!” Starcharger cried out to the scout as the guard pulled the injured mech into his arms. Stormbreaker? Whatever Bumblebee didn’t have the energy to care about different names or weird different reality relationships right now.
“It’s alright I got you, stop your crying.” Even as he said the words he buried his face in the crook of Starcharger’s neck as he rubbed the jet’s wings comforting him.
“Where did Final Light go?”
“Dealing with troopers.” Stormbreaker shifted the jet to the crook of his arm and let Starcharger rest against his wide chest. “Are you ok?” Bee vented deeply and nodded.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“No arguments here.”
“So did you do that strange cloud thing? With a name like Stormbreaker it’s... pretty spot on.”
Stormbreaker laughed, Starcharger did too. “I wish, no that was Final Light. Normally he doesn’t go that far but he was pretty pissed.”
“Ok.” Bee didn’t know what to make of that information, this reality had strange differences from his own but there were plenty of mechs with special powers in his own reality was it possible the reason Knock Out never fought seriously was because he was trying to hide some dark power. The Con did love his energon staff. He really shouldn’t be thinking about Knock Out right now, his own life was at stake here.
The group found Final Light dealing with troopers, like the other guardsmen the troopers were levitating in a black electrified haze but unlike the guardsmen when Final Light cleared the fog away the troopers were still alive moaning in pain.
“Boss, Shockwave is still alive we have to get him and get out of here!”
“Already done, get back to the ship Miko’s leaving in ten minutes, I have one more thing that needs to be done.”
A tear formed in the hallway ahead of them and impressive looking white and forest green mech stepped through, behind him a spindly yellow and black mech. Bumblebee felt his spark jolt and pound at the sight of him. It wasn’t painful but Bee didn’t like it. The spindly mech clutched at his chest his faceless visor dark and emotionless but is em field was wild and angry. Blaming the feeling on the rogue leader he whipped out his pistol. The other mech’s arm shot out and smacked the spy’s gun down. “Go back to Optimus Trackerjacket.” The spy looked at the other mech, he did not budge. Suddenly with a snap of Final Light’s talons the spy was violently tossed back through his own tear causing it to fade away. With the spy gone Magnus moved forward; Final Light stopped him a black haze enveloped the Guard leader.
“Leave now.” Final Light’s tone was curt and cold.
“What are you talking about, why, what do you have to do?”
“ You have him, just knock him out!”
“Stormbreaker take them to the ship.” Stormbreaker was quick, he grabbed Bumblebee and ran the two injured mechs fought and screamed but Stormbreaker continued forward never looking back.
Alone now Final Light released Ultra Magnus, the large mech fell to his knees tears in his optucs. “Why do keep torturing me beloved, why are you still here?” Magnus stood, moving swiftly he closed the distance between him and Final Light and pulled the smaller mech to his chest.
“You’ve lost the game Magnus, I’ve saved my mechs, eliminated your guards and killed your prime to be,”
Magnus pressed his helm to Final Light’s as if he hadn’t heard the words. “Why do you keep coming back, how many times have you died, have I killed you, and yet you return just to haunt me!” Magnus sobbed openly his voice hitching.
“But I’m so tired of playing now. Does that make me a sore winner?”
“Do you hate me, is this vengence!”
“I just want to stay here with you, safe in your arms.”
“They’ve ruined you now, there’s nothing left for me to take. They’ve gone and ruined it all! All that’s left is your spark.” Magnus made small circles on the other mech’s chest with his servo, lovingly stroking the seams. “You gave it to me once. Let me have it again, let me end this nightmare.”
“When this is all over won’t you please come with me? I’m so cold without you.”
“Please, don’t you still love me?” Final Light opened his chest panels.
Stormbreaker made it to the ship just in time; Miko already had the Galaxy Breaker warm and ready. Bumblebee was still trying to break free but Starcharger could only scream and claw at the bigger mech's chest. Miko waited ten minutes before flying off leaving their Boss to his fate. Rules were rules and they had been set by Final Light himself for a reason. The mission was more important than one mech alone. As they flew off their escape was overlooked by the explosion of the Soliton, the fastest ship in the Royal Fleet was burning to the ground.
Bee could only stare in shock knowing in his spark that Final Light had planned it to be this way.
The journey back was somber and uneventful Bee stuck to his room playing with his toy and trying to figure out why Final Light had done what he did. As sad as everyone was the mission had been a success and despite the severity of everyone's wounds they all brushed off the pain saying they had been through worse. So as they neared home Miko poured them all a strong drink from the Boss personal stash, a toast to his honor.
“We’re back~” Miko called out into the medbay a red and black blur scooped her up and spun her around, both her and the blur cackling wildly.
“Guess who else is back too.” The minibot went from joy to fear in a second as he saw the condition of the other mechs, mostly his brother. Hearing her name screamed by a panicking minibot a dozen times per minute the CMO stopped whatever had been preoccupying her and rushed out to see the damage. She was not happy.
Aurora insisted he stay till she could get him a replacement arm but knowing that home was only a tear away now that Soundwave had returned Bee had to refuse. Aurora was adamant on keeping him for one more night just to make sure he was truly ok and Bee didn’t have the spark to refuse her. It was morning now though so Bee made his way to the medbay. As he drew near he could hear the medic talking to someone.
“Honestly a bomb in your chest was that really your best plan? You completely destroyed your form and I don’t care if he followed you I am not keeping him and I am surely not going to revive him. Please don’t give me that look! Why don’tyou just express your feelings to Rumble you’ve been thinking about it for centuries now. He won’t find out unless you tell him. Well now you are just being selfish. You can not have both of them. Fine I’ll do it but you will have to wait I simply can not make two new chassis in that amount of time, look how bad the last one was you couldn’t even talk.” Bee knocked on the door before entering, she was alone. “Oh hello Bumblebee good morning. I have wonderful news Megatron and Final Light ran into each other once all the chaos died down. Seems he got off the ship just in time so no more sad optics ok! He did get a little banged up though so he’ll be at Lockdown’s getting some repairs for awhile so I’m sorry he won’t be able to see you off.”
Bee knew what he had heard but this reality was strange and he had no way of explaining how it worked. There were far too many questions he would need to ask and Bee found that maybe he wasn’t ready for the answers. He wanted to go home. “That’s great I’m sure that will lift everyone’s spirits. How’s Shockwave?”
“Oh he’s doing well I have him set up in his personal quarters but he’s already tinkering in his workshop you know how engineers are they can’t keep their servos still.”
“That’s good! You’re doing well too? Miko heard that there were scrapletts planted in the fake chassis.”
“Oh there were but I’m fine, Soundwave~, hmm he came to my rescue.”
“That’s good, speaking of Soundwave is uhh.. now a good time this was an experience but I want to go home.”
“Oh are you sure you won’t stay and let me fix your arm?”
“Yup! I promise I’ll tell them I was attacked by a quarkbear.”
“Bumblebee quarkbears have been extinct for millennia! Whatever let me go wake Soundwave’ he’s just recharging in back.”
Soundwave waved at Bee as he made his way from the back room. The Mech was pretty much just like his own Soundwave except this one had an actual face. It was a good one too old but not ancient and his optics; despite being blacked out like Starcharger’s; were lively and held a sort of strange sparkle. “Hey you ready to go home!” His voice was cheerful and tired Bee liked it he had always wondered what Soundwave sounded like and honestly it suited him. Bee nodded.
“Alright, Aurora you coming along this time!”
The medic's frame appeared in the doorway her cheeks flushed and her optics dim. It was rather cute how flustered she was. “Sure I would love to if you don’t mind.” Soundwave’s optics lit up and an impressive tear formed in the space, the spy held out his arm guiding the other too through. Inside the rift was like space except confined to a long hallway as Bee walked deeper in he could see more and more tears each opening to different realities.
“Anything looking familiar to you.” One did he couldn’t say what made it different from the others but the scene through the fog made Bee’s spark jolt as he remembered it: the first time he had met Raf. “Then go on through, hope you had fun.”
“You’re not coming through with me?”
“Maybe in a few centuries but till then I’m going to take Aurora to a fun reality.”
Bee laughed slightly under his breath, “Fair enough!” Aurora rushed forward and pulled Bee into a tight hug.
“It was lovely hearing your story Bumblebee, now go write a new chapter!”
Back home on his own Nemesis he felt terrible, all of his friends had been worried sick and as Bee had predicted blamed Knock Out for his disappearance. Bee didn’t think they would believe the truth so he told them he had messed around in the groundbridge and had gotten lost somewhere on Cybertron and that he had been attacked by some wild fauna. This was a good enough story for them but not for Knock Out who was convinced Bee had disappeared on purpose. He wouldn’t even talk to Bee.
Sitting in his quarters he sighed it had been almost a month and Knock Out still refused to talk to him, not to mention he still hadn’t fixed his arm despite Bee actually begging. There was a knock at his door, it opened without him having to get up. Knock Out. The cherry medic stood servo on his hip looking exhausted. “I have been sending you messages for hours now do you want this arm or not!” Bee shot up he had been too busy moping to check his messages.
“Yes please!” Knock Out rolled his optics but pulled the desk chair over close to the bed and sat down. He worked in silence, it was killing Bee slowly inside. “Hey Knock Out, I know you’re still mad at me but I have to ask do you know a femm named Cosmica?”
“No!”
“Are you sure.”
“Positive.”
Bumblebee groaned internally and slumped forward resting his chin on his good arm, the silence continued but in the corner of his optic Bee caught a smile forming on the medic’s face. “What are you smiling at?”
The smile disappeared, “It’s nothing. That name though I never knew anyone who actually called themselves that but it does remind me of a mech I used to know….an old friend.”
“Really tell me about them!”
“Why don’t you tell me how you really lost your arm.” Bee quickly looked away, so the Con had known he was lying.
“You look really nice today did you use hi-shine today?” Knock Out’s smile returned this time plenty visible as he looked at Bee.
“I did thank you for noticing!”